Systems of the type that use surplus energy that would otherwise be wasted are generally referred to as energy recovery or cogeneration systems. U.S. Pat. No. 4,214,451 issued to Graham E. Combs and Hiranya Rao, for example, discloses a system that utilizes primary steam to generate electrical energy and exhaust steam, which would otherwise be wasted, to operate various industrial processes in a plant.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,510,756, issued to Ralph E. Hise and Paul Swenson, simply entitled "Cogeneration", discloses a system that permits centralized electric utility plants, while operating at relatively high thermodynamic efficiency, to utilize the heat of the bulk of their rejected low-grade (low-temperature) steam for secondary purposes, such as water heating. The heat of the low-grade steam ordinarily would be wasted by exhausting the same to the atmosphere.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,752,697, issued to James P. Lyons, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,802,100 issued to Robert K. Aasen, also show systems that reference the broad term "cogeneration."
It is an object of the present invention to apply the broad principle of energy cogeneration to apparatus utilized in controlling the temperature of storage cells in warehouses or other structures designed for cold storage, and even to abandoned mines and natural caves which could be adapted for use as cold storage facilities.
More particularly, it is an object of the present invention to utilize or extract otherwise wasted kinetic energy resulting from the movement of refrigerant, which may be ammonia or Freon, through a conduit system connecting the main components of a refrigeration apparatus, namely the compressor, condenser and evaporator.
It is yet a further object of the invention to provide alternate systems operable to extract the kinetic energy of the refrigerant flowing through the conduit system at any one of the several stages in the refrigerant cycle, namely when the refrigerant is in a fluid, vapor or gaseous stage.
It is yet a further object of the invention of the present invention to utilize the kinetic energy of the refrigerant to energize a energy recovery unit comprising a turbine coupled to an electromotive generator for generating electricity.
It is a still further object of the invention to utilize the heat generated by a refrigerator compressor to heat a coolant for circulation to selected areas beneath the cold storage area of warehouse to prevent damaging cold contractions of the warehouse floor while extracting the kinetic energy of circulating coolant to drive an energy recovery turbine to rotate electromotive generator coupled to the turbine.
These and other objects of the invention will be apparent from the disclosure of the preferred embodiment thereof.